Chardón Maldonado, Patricia

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    Field observations and numerical simulations of storm-induced nearshore morphology change in Rincón, Puerto Rico
    (2013) Chardón Maldonado, Patricia; Canals Silander, Miguel F.; College of Engineering; Padilla Cestero, Ingrid; Aponte Bermúdez, Luis; Department of Civil Engineering; Morales Caro, Betsy
    The municipality of Rincón, Puerto Rico has suffered from severe erosion during the last several decades. This stretch of coast is highly sensitive to storm-induced wave events. The effects of erosion on coastal communities and structures have been drastic and costly. It is therefore vital to understand the physical processes that induce nearshore morphology change in order to determine the causes of erosion as well as to suggest possible solutions to the problem. To assess short-term morphology changes, pre- and post-storm hydrographic surveys were carried out between July and November 2012 using a personal watercraft as a bathymetric surveying system. During this period, two storm events, Tropical Storm Isaac and Hurricane Sandy, impacted the coast of Rincón, allowing us to monitor and quantify erosion and accretion patterns in the nearshore region. The southwesterly wave events caused by Isaac and Sandy generated significant sediment transport and morphology change, causing the formation of shore-parallel sandbars. In contrast, the northwesterly swell generated by Sandy did not greatly affect nearshore morphology change. To identify and understand the hydrodynamic processes responsible for the morphological changes observed in the field, a coupled wave-current-sediment transport numerical model, the Coastal Modeling System (CMS), developed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, was implemented. Storm-induced circulation and sediment transport were reproduced for each storm and a detailed understanding of Rincón’s coastal morphodynamic behavior was obtained. When compared with the jetski-based surveys, the model appears to predict, at least qualitatively, the large scale features of the observed morphology change for both storm events. Based upon the f indings of this study, a much better understanding of the coastal dynamics of Rincón coast has been achieved.